Jonathan: Last president of old Nigeria?

Some people say the geographical configuration called Nigeria attained fifty years on October 1, 2010 having gained political independence from Britain on Saturday 1st October 1960.

But another school of thought argues that Nigeria was fifty in 1964 as Nigeria was a creation of the British on 1st January, 1914 via Lord Fredrick Luggard.

To buttress this claim, they contended that the day the hen laid its eggs was the day it gave birth not the day the eggs hatched. Which of these claims is correct?

No matter the way the argument may swing, the crux of the matter is: HOW WELL SO FAR?

The truth is that all has not been well with Nigeria. The child will be the father of the man if the future is bright though right now the future is bleak. That the coast is not clear and that there is no indication of its clarity in the nearest future has made Nigeria’s case hopeless. And for the crab to walk straight, all its legs have to be broken.

The greatest problem of one Nigeria is that Nigeria is not one and that no one is a Nigerian.  The “One Nigeria” slogan is just a gimmick to hoodwink the masses.  Who has ever heard of “One USA,” “One Britain”, “One China”, “One Germany”, “One France”, “One Ghana”, “One Russia” or “One South Africa?”

If there is anytime that corruption which has plunged Nigeria into this dilemma should be tackled, it should be started from the head down to the toe. The he-goat or billy-goat is usually used to cleanse any abomination in Igbo land having impregnated its own mother which is an abominable act.

Therefore, the Nigerian ex-military heads of state, ex-presidents, ex-governors, ex-ministers and all those who have been in the position of trust insinuated to have stolen from the public treasury ought to be investigated and prosecuted to stop any idle story from quickly becoming fact in the mouths of hundreds.

Three options are available for the liberation of the people of Nigeria from bondage:
*. To remain in “One Nigeria” with “CATASTROPHIC REVOLUTION” that will waste all those who have played the dirty role that put Nigeria in this dilemma.
*. To convoke a sovereign national conference for the restructuring of the nation.
*. Break-up of the country into smaller units.

The first option is costly but necessary to save the nation for people to believe and trust in the Nigerian project. At the present state of affairs, can anyone die for Nigeria?

If our fathers were subdued and humiliated with gun because of the Nigeria / Biafran war hence the protracted silence and acquiesce, unemployment and picking food from the gutter, time has come for us to reject our dehumanization.

Why must our rulers prefer 140 million walking corpses, 140 million coffins and 140 million  graves to 140 million decent citizens of Nigeria? Nigeria is growing to the level when the sins of rulers find them as soon as their immunity is emasculated. Good leaders never turned thieves into chiefs, morons into barons and nonentities into celebrities.

Nelson Mandela never enslaved his people rather volunteered to die for South Africa. Mahatma Ghandi presented himself as a holocaust for the people of India. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe preferred to be known as Zik of Africa and a Nigerian rather than an Igbo.

Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Felix Houphet Boigny, Kenneth Kaunda, Leopold Senghor, Maumar Gadaffi and Kwame Nkrumah toiled, lived and the deceased ones died for their countries. None of them was reputed to have stolen his people’s public money.

Even Leopold Senghor, a Christian and an honest leader, was elected a president where 95 percent of the citizens of Senegal were Moslems. To people with conscience, men mattered more than money, politics and governance.

But to vulture_presidents and heads of state who shed tears of joy in a funeral, like Marcus Nguema, Emperor Bokassa, Omar Bongo, Suhato of Indonesia (the world richest military ruler) etc., money mattered more than the citizens and their welfare. Perhaps that is why the money they stole from office made them thick and powerful. Omar Bongo of Gabon was said to have been richer than his country while the wife of Emperor Bokassa of the poverty_ridden Central African Republic had over 1,500 pairs of shoes.

Some Nigerian rulers and political office holders could not be differentiated from these despotic rulers. And that is why they want “One Nigeria” where anything goes; where monkey dey work, baboon dey chop. Time has come for them to vomit their loots.

If Libya with a population of about 5m, Iraq 24m, Malaysia 26m, Canada 32m, Ghana 15m, Togo 0.7m, Egypt 56m, Spain 40m, can exist as independent countries, why can’t Arewa of about 30m, Biafra 40m, Oduduwa 38m, Middle Belt 26m, etc?

Sweden, though with no oil, is one of the richest countries of the world with a population of 9m. Cuba with her 9m people depends on sugarcane as the only source of income. Germany is the largest economy in Europe with technology, automobile as her largest export.

France survives on jewelleries, cosmetics, poultry, etc while Holland is specialist in dairy, ship building, etc. Spain and Italy are agro-based economies besides sports business. While Niger Delta can go to the moon with oil, Arewa can equally go to the Mars or Jupiter with her agricultural products and solid minerals. Biafra can survive on palm produce, “buying and selling” besides technology.

Does it not surprise anybody that Imo State is bigger and more populous than Benin Republic and Togo put together? If Yugoslavia with a population of about 25m could disintegrate into Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, among others, why must Nigeria with 140m people remain a big problem and burden to the oil producing states?

Nigeria should disintegrate into Arewa, Biafra, Oduduwa, Savannah Republic (Middle Belt) etc to save the miserable majority and noiseless achievers instead of dumping Nigeria in the hands of noise making deceivers and happy minority. Soviet Union broke into over fifteen countries. After all, disintegration means creation of more employment opportunities, more presidents, more vice-presidents, more lawmakers, more states, more national football teams, etc.

* Ezennaya writes for the World Igbo Times magazine, London.
Above all, ethnic and religious crises will cease to exist, influx of illegal immigrants will be minimized, illegal Nigeria immigrants abroad will start to return home, etc.
In the estimation of majority of Nigerians, as opportunity comes but once, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan should be the LAST PRESIDENT OF OLD NIGERIA.

By braving this bull_horn fight, he will save the Niger Delta people from their slavery in Nigeria besides making himself a hero and the new Lord Fredrick Luggard of our time. He could supervise over a peaceful sovereign national conference like the referendum of the people of southern Sudan which  Omar al Bashir is sitting atop.

However, where the sovereign national conference is unacceptable, disintegration is the last option. If Omar Al Bashir is wise enough to grant this disintegration request to save Sudanese from war, who thinks Jonathan will not be wiser being our last president to save Nigeria from plunging into imminent and irredeemable looming disaster.

It was SENECA who said, “Qui non vetat peccare cum posit jubet” i.e. He who does not forbid sin when he can encourages it.

The statement credited to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that not even Jesus Christ can conduct a credible, free and fair election in Nigeria has proved Nigeria’s hopeless situation therefore inadvertently telling various nations in Nigeria to our tents oh Nigerians!

*  Sixtus Chibueze Ezennaya writes for the World Igbo Times magazine, London.